Darrow finds Mustang asleep in a ransacked suite near Jupiter’s quarters. She has resisted sedatives, slept on the floor, and turned violent toward the room’s finery. He wakes her gently; they share an intimate kiss, but Darrow pulls back, choosing restraint. Trusting her, he sends Mustang to hunt down the Jackal, and then orders Sevro to edit the stored holofeeds so the Drafters see the version of events Darrow intends.

Darrow summons Fitchner from Apollo’s dungeons. Fitchner warns that victory isn’t settled: Cassius will still seek a duel to the death; the scandal of Proctor corruption and ArchGovernor interference will have consequences; and Darrow’s trust may be misplaced. Fitchner reveals the third point—Mustang is Virginia au Augustus, the Jackal’s twin. Realizing he has just equipped her with elite tech and half his army, Darrow rages as Proctors mock him. He dispatches Tactus to round up enemy remnants and Milia to marshal forces, then launches with the Howlers to relieve Mars immediately.

The Howlers descend on besieged House Mars, scattering attackers from Jupiter, Apollo, and Pluto. Darrow strides through the fighting as his armored body absorbs strikes and the Howlers cut the enemy down. At three crosses below the walls, he finds Antonia, Cassandra, and Vixus; Antonia and Vixus are alive, and he orders Thistle to cut them down and send them for medical aid. Inside the ruined fortress, starving defenders hail “The Reaper.” Darrow ferries the wounded to Olympus, enslaves captured besiegers under Mars’s standard through Clown and Pebble, and is reunited with a skeletal but joyful Roque, with Quinn at his side.

Pollux asks Darrow to spare Cassius, then leaves him to confront his rival. Darrow apologizes for Julian, but Cassius, hollowed by siege and guilt, rejects reconciliation and formally declares a blood feud: the next time they share a room, one must die. After Cassius departs, Darrow pins the Primus badge to his chest, raises his slingBlade banner over the map’s captured Houses—Pluto alone remains—and steels himself for the last battle in the valley before the greater war beyond.